I met Niq Mhlongo in Lagos two years ago. Or so. At a very artsy restaurant and bar, Bogobiri. A writer friend, Uche Peter Umez had talked about him and had given me a copy of After Tears, his novel, to read and I enjoyed it. I had issues with the novel, regarding the depiction of its Nigerian characters. I would discuss it with Niq later, but I didn’t. We hung out several times, even with Kenyan writer, Binyavanga Wainaina and Nigerian writer, Igoni Barret and actor, David Nnaji. We drank and ‘chopped’ at O’Jez in Surulere, Lagos, Nigeria.
Two years after, I am sitting in a Chinese restaurant on rue de Bagnolet in Paris. We are eating Cantonese rice, mushroom and chicken and drinking Tsingtao beer. He has just finished reading from his novel at the Mediatheque and had a Q & A session with his French audience. His novels have been translated into European languages and he is gradually becoming a literary superstar in France. He has an itinerary which I look at later in his hotel room and figure that he has a very busy schedule on this visit.
After reading his first novel, Dog Eat Dog, which when pronounced by French people, it sounds like, [Snoop] Doggy Dogg, I found it cinematic enough and thought I should ask questions, so we discussed everything about his career and also life.
When did you start Dog Eat Dog?
Around year 2000. I was doing my third year LLB at The University of Cape Town (UCT). I was bored with law cases and lonely in Cape Town as I’m from Johannesburg. To I started writing in order to deal with my loneliness.
What motivates you to write?
I’m motivated by different things- the will to share experiences with the world, by South Africa and its unpredictability, by love, politics, by hatred, by Soweto and it’s sub-culture. I’m motivated by my own experiences, other people’s experiences, my beliefs, my attempts to understand the world as we live in it. I’m motivated by so many things.
Can you tell us what kind of things you did before writing ‘Dog Eat Dog’?
Before writing Dog Eat Dog I was just a student. First I did BA at Wits University majoring in African Literature. After finishing my BA I decided on doing LLB post graduate degree. The only writing I did was only associated with my studies.
What kind of historical context of your country influenced what you are doing today? Or did you just start out of the fact that you needed to write?
I started out of the fact that I needed to write. Like I said, Dog Eat Dog came out of my loneliness in Cape Town. I actually wanted to be a lawyer, and not a writer. That is why I studied law and failed some of the courses in 2000. So I wrote Dog Eat Dog whilst in Cape Town because I missed Jo’burg so much. I missed my family and my friend that I had left at Wits University. Dog Eat Dog was then born out of that nostalgia. Most of the things that I wrote in Dog Eat Dog did happen in real life. Some are exaggerations, some I observed, experienced. Some are hearsay.
Who do you admire? Is there someone who influences your writing so much?
I won’t single out a person. I was influenced by my own experience, experiences of other, my neighbourhood, Soweto. However, I must say that I grew up reading African Literature by Heinneman’s African Writers Series authors. I was able to read great authors such as Achebe, Ayi Kwei Armah, Buchi Emecheta, Ferdinand Oyono, Ngugi, Eskia Mphahlele, Mia Couto, Gabriel Okar, Bessie Head, Dambudzo Marechera, Hove, Tsitsi Dangarengba, Amah Ata Aidoo, and etc. All these writers had an equal influence on me, and I admired them a lot.
Did you receive some kind of economic support to write?
What is that? No way. I did everything on my own. I had plenty of time because I was unemployed in 2001 and part of 2002. I relied on friends and relatives for economic support.
You have had the chance to travel around many countries in the world. What kind of things have you learnt during the trips?
I went to these many countries because of my writing, and in most cases I was invited to literary events. In most of these places I admired how people love books, and wish South Africa is like that. Travelling has also widened my scope around literature because of mingling with different writers from all over the world. It has boasted my confidence because I represent my country when I’m in those places. I have learnt that an author plays an ambassadorial role for a country because readers/book lovers rely on authors to comment on politics, economics, and social spheres. And whatever an author says is taken as the truth. So, I have learnt that artists wherever they come from, are truly empowered with a gift to make a difference in the world and in people’s lives. They are engines of inspirations and gatekeepers of truth, as well as true documentarians of history.
What lessons have you acquired to help grow in your writing?
The lesson is that I must write for myself first and think about my audience later.
What kind of support have you gotten so far from people in Nigeria towards your writing?
Most of it is moral support. I have lots of friends from Nigeria, most of them are authors. Also I grew up reading literature by Nigerian authors as I have mentioned earlier.
In your own assessment, would you say your writing is making money?
My writing is not making money, but opportunities. There is an opportunity to create one’s own world, to travel, to be invited to dinners and lunches by high profile people. An opportunity to change people’s lives, to inspire them, to share a world stage with other influential authors. So there is no money, and that is why I still sell my labour in order to survive.
In layman’s language, what exactly do you call your genre of writing?
I have no idea. I hear people being labeled crime novelist. I have been referred to as post-apartheid writer, kwaito generation writer (whatever that means). My latest novel Way Back Home is regarded as a political novel. I have no idea of my genre, and I guess I write about so many slices of life. May I’m a slice of life writer if there is that genre because it is difficult to classify my writing.
What are your plans in the foreseeable future?
I want to write, and write and writer more stories until my laptop runs out of ink. By the age 50 must have published at list ten books.
Let’s talk about you as a person. What kind of person are you? How can you define yourself?
I’ve been asked that question before, and this is how I answered it: I’m an enigma. I’m like an algebra test that no student passes. But I think I’m a happy person, an extrovert and a true Gemini-kind and loving.
What kind of legacy would you like to leave in South Africa?
I want to leave South Africa and the world more books to read. Those books must be written by me.
So far, what is your biggest success or goal you have reached in your career?
The greatest thing is that I’m read internationally in different languages, German, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Flemmish, Dutch because my works are translated into those languages. Also my name is associated with literature.
Onyeka Nwelue who is a founding member of The Trent Voices lives in Paris, where he runs La Cave Musik, a record label, specialising in quality music from Africa and the Caribbean.
